The present invention relates to an underwire bra, and more particularly to a lightweight, substantially unpadded, comfortable, push-in underwire bra.
A wide variety of underwire bras is well-known in the bra art. The use of an underwire bra, as opposed to a non-underwire bra, ensures that a hypermammiferous woman will receive adequate breast support. The underwire conforms and clings to the skin of the wearer to preclude xe2x80x9cliftingxe2x80x9d of the bottom or band of the bra (which passes about the torso of the wearer), thereby ensuring that a bottom portion of the wearer""s breast cannot fall between the wearer and the band. The underwire additionally helps to support the breast within the cup, thereby relieving some of the weight which is otherwise by borne by the shoulder straps of the bra and hence the shoulders of the wearer.
Typically, an underwire is generally U-shaped in configuration, although the length of the legs of the U may vary. As the conventional function of the underwire is to push the breast upwardly and thereby provide cleavage between the breasts, the underwire typically extends about the base of the breast with the bight of the U at the bottom of the base, a lateral or an outer leg of the U extending substantially towards the top of the cup, and a medial or inner leg of the U extending at least an appreciable length (and typically a substantial length) towards the top of the cup. As a result, the underwire bra is typically of a xe2x80x9cpush-upxe2x80x9d type which attempts to raise the wearer""s breast in a more or less vertical direction. As the underwire bra is typically especially designed for women of substantial breast proportions, it is typically substantially unpadded, although in various instances it may be provided with an either integral or detachable pad adjacent the bottom of the cup in order to assist in the push-up function and thereby achieve additional cleavage.
Regardless of whether the wearer is of slight or substantial breast proportions, the push-up effect is less than satisfactory in practice due to the xe2x80x9cdouble breastxe2x80x9d effect. With a push-up bra, each breast appears to be formed of two vertically aligned separate breasts, one which is pushed up within the cup by the padding and one which is a bunching of skin above the top of the bra, such bunching resembling a slight separately formed auxiliary breast. Accordingly, the desired cleavage is achieved by the push-up bra only by somewhat sacrificing the aesthetics.
The cups of the typical underwire bra are connected by a gore, a relatively high small strip of material connecting the bras cups at the bottom of the cups and for some appreciable distance thereabove. While the gore is typically flexible, it still limits independent movement of the cups relative to to one another and thereby decreases the comfort of the bra.
Despite the wide variety of underwire bras in the prior art, the need remains for such a bra which is lightweight, substantially unpadded, comfortable and designed to provide a push-in effect which accentuates cleavage.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a lightweight, substantially unpadded, comfortable, push-in underwire bra which provides deeply plunging cleavage while enabling substantial independent motion of the cups (and hence the wearer""s breasts) relative to one another.
It has now been found that the above and related objects of the present invention are obtained in a lightweight, substantially unpadded, comfortable, push-in underwire bra comprising, when worn by a female wearer, a front and means secured to the front for releasably supporting the front on a female wearer with the breasts of the female wearer substantially within the cups. The front includes a pair of cups. Each cup defines upper inner and outer portions, lower inner and outer portions, a top and a bottom, and is configured and dimensioned to hold substantially one breast of a female wearer. Each cup defines an underwire-receiving channel extending downwardly from the cup upper outer portion and then inwardly across the cup bottom to the cup lower inner portion where the channel terminates. A single underwire-free channel extension connects the channels of the cups only at the lower inner portions thereof, the cups being connected at the front only by the channel extension, thereby to provide a deeply plunging cleavage and enable substantial independent motion of the cups relative to one another. For each cup, a thin, arcuate underwire is disposed in the channel and biases the cup upper outer portion inwardly. Thus, the underwires bias the cup upper outer portions inwardly to provide push-in cleavage on the wearer""s breasts. Straps are secured to the front for releasably supporting it on a female wearer with the breasts of the female wearer substantially within the cups.
In a preferred embodiment, the cups are devoid of substantial padding. To the extent that the cups contain padding, the padding is uniformly distributed over substantially the entire surface of the cups. Each cup defines an inner lower length extending from the lower inner portion to at least a midpoint between the upper and lower inner portions. Such inner lower length is substantially linear, and preferably the inner lower lengths of the cups are substantially parallel.
In a preferred embodiment, the channel extends arcuately downwardly and arcuately inwardly, and terminates at the cup lower inner portion without appreciable ascent towards the cup upper inner portion. The channel extension is configured and dimensioned to snugly fit the wearer between and below the breasts, and the bra is characterized by the absence of a gore connecting the inner portions of the pair of cups above the channel extension.
Preferably the underwire has two flat major surfaces configured and dimensioned to lie parallel to the body of the wearer. The underwire extends substantially the entire length of the underwire-receiving channel.
Preferably the supporting means includes a backstrap secured at each end to a respective outer portion of one of the cups and a pair of optional shoulder straps connecting the cup tops to the backstrap.